PR People and Journalists: Can’t We All Just Get Along?

There has always been a bit of tension between PR people and journalists. Each does things that annoy the other, but for the most part, we’re able to work together for the common good, which is creating great stories that people care about. Unfortunately, I’ve started to notice a disturbing trend lately that I can’t ignore any longer. It seems like a week doesn’t pass by any longer without one side writing a storybashing the other side. You know what? I’ve fanned the flames myself. But what I’ve seen recently seems to go beyond the petty bickering between PR people and journalists. In many cases, it comes across as pure hatred between the two groups, and that makes me sad.

The fact of the matter is that we need each other. PR people need journalists to help spread their message. Journalists need PR people to connect them with qualified sources for their stories and to provide them with interesting story ideas. So why can’t we get along and work together to achieve a common goal?

Personally, I think a major part of the problem is that relationship building is a lost art. With the convenience of email and social media, too many PR people don’t take the time to actually meet and get to know reporters anymore. There’s no trust. No rapport. No understanding of one another. And when no relationships exist, it’s all too easy for both sides to irritate each other and to write each other off.

My hope is that we’ll start working on building relationships with one another…that we’ll open up a dialogue and learn how to work together more effectively to achieve a common goal. Let’s stop tearing each other down and start building our relationships up.